Italy – Venice Introduces Measures To Curb Mass Tourism

In a sign of the times, more major European tourist hubs are introducing measures to deal with mass tourism. Whereas before part of the summer and spring exodus in Europe was dealt with by Turkey, Morocco and Tunisia, ever since the 2015-2016 terrorist attacks on European soil and the failed coup in Turkey, the numbers of European visitors to Italy, Spain and Greece have swelled enormously. More visitors decide to stay on the continent.

Furthermore, the current generation of millennials in Europe chooses to travel rather than to save for a car or a house first.

The event of traveling itself has become more of an adventure than going on a holiday, and thanks to low-cost airlines, city trips are all the rage. And thus, just as Palma de Mallorca in Spain introduced measures of its own last week (see related coverage) this week saw the turn of Venice to come up with novelties dealing with the swelling crowds.

City officials decided to install automatic turnstiles at access points to the historic city such as the Lista di Spagna-Strada Nuova-Rialto, towards alternative routes via Scalzi Bridge, San Polo then Rialto Bridge, or Santa Margherita, so that police can control the number of tourists in and out of certain points in the city at all times.

Residents, many of whom depend on the tourists for their livelihood, agreed with the idea of controlling the crowds. "We cannot accept mass, savage tourism, it should be an elite and polite tourism," one said.